


Derek and Tyler

by Kamalika



Category: Derek Hale - Fandom, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-13 01:12:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7956355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamalika/pseuds/Kamalika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Who the hell are YOU?” Derek barked at the stranger ignoring everybody else in the room.</p><p>“My name is Tyler Hoechlin.” The stranger replied softly. “And I believe you are Derek Hale.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,
> 
> So, I should have added this disclaimer when I published this fic, but it somehow slipped my mind.
> 
> I would like to apologise to Tyler Hoechlin to use him as a character in this fic. Please note this is a completely fictionalised version of the actor and has no bearing whatsoever on the actor's real personality or real anything in fact, except for the fact that he is an actor and he plays Derek Hale in Teen Wolf.
> 
> Tyler Hoechlin in real life and Tyler Hoechlin in this fic are two completely different beings and however he is portrayed in this fic, his experiences and his character and everything about him is completely imaginary.
> 
> I apologise in advance again to the actor himself and to his fans if I have unintentionally offended anybody. It was not my intention.

 

“I hate to be the guy who keeps on saying ‘I told you so’…”

“Stiles,” Scott sat down on the couch and hung his head dejectedly. “Not now.”

“Look all I am saying is that we cannot pull this kind of stunt again.” Stiles marched on. “We almost lost Liam today and you too. Can you imagine what would happen to us if something happened to you? What would we –”

“Stiles.” Scott glowered at his chatterbox of a best friend. “Shut up.”

The betas standing around nervously flinched at the hint of alpha behind the rough command. Scott was not usually the one pulling his rank on his friends, but today was entirely different. It seemed like he had gone through a personality change within hours. There were strong reasons for it though and none of his pack-mates/friends could blame him. They just tried to maintain the broody silence he had chosen to wrap himself around with.

Stiles wouldn’t be deterred though.

“Why would I shut up?” Stiles flailed a bit. “You are acting without thinking, just like D –” He cut himself off, and stared into the distance for a beat or two. It had been almost one year since Mexico. No words from a certain person who smiled at them across the ruins of the ancient Aztec temple before climbing into his vehicle and driving away.

And Stiles still had to swallow down a lump of two before being able to utter that name!

“Anyways,” he sighed. “I understand that you are mad, but –”

“Mad?!?!” Scott snarled, his eyes flashing scarlet in warning. But Stiles didn’t even so much as flinch. He was too used to the werewolf drama for he had been dealing with it up close for nearly three years in a row now and it didn’t even faze him anymore. “It is my mom. Of all people she had to take mom…the bitch…I would…I would…”

Scott shook his head as he choked on his own words.

Stiles scooted closer and placed his hand lightly over his friend’s shoulders. He frowned, feeling the slight tremors underneath the thin t-shirt.

“Hey…hey now…Scotty boy. Please.” Stiles tried in a softer tone. “We would get her back. We promise.” He raised his eyes to their friends standing around, hovering worriedly and raised an expectant eyebrow.

“Of course.” Liam immediately chirped.

“Nothing will happen to her.” Lydia said fiercely.

“But it is Kate!” Scott almost whined. “And she won’t even show herself until we bring Derek with us.”

“That WAS her condition Scott.” Lydia reasoned. “She told you categorically that the only way she would release your mom is if you are willing to exchange her for Derek. I think that was her exact words. So you shouldn’t have really expected for it to go any other way when you went there sans-Derek.”

“I know what she said.” Scott snapped. Frustration and grief was making him short-tempered and impatient. He knew it, but couldn’t hold back. Just the very thought of his mom, his strong and brave, but very human mom in the clutches of Kate, the stuff that nightmares are made of, was enough to gag him with worry.

“But Derek is not here.”

“And he is not answering his phone. The usual!” Stiles finished for him. “We will work out something.”

“What if…?” Gia, the newest addition to the pack started and then shrank back when all eyes turned towards her in unison. She had been a transfer student and was a senior like Scott and Stiles and she was a witch; a pretty powerful one at that. She had ‘felt’ the presence of supernatural at school and had approached their table quite boldly at the school cafeteria. She had dropped her lunch tray on their table and waved with a ‘Hi, I am Gia. Are you guys magic?’ like it was a completely natural thing to do. While they had gaped at her she had proceeded to sit down and took turns in shaking hand with each of them, bringing them out the momentary stupor. She had been incorporated into the pack immediately after.

“What?” Scott frowned at her.

“You basically need a Derek Hale.” She stated.

“You are talking as if we have a range to choose from.” Stiles snorted.

Scott looked slightly sick at the idea. Only slightly!

Gia opened her mouth, but then closed it.

“What?” Scott asked again, impatient.

“Nothing.” Gia shook her head a little too quickly. “Nothing at all. Just making an observation. A needless observation. Just don’t take any note of it.” She babbled.

…

“A NEEDLESS OBSERVATION!!!!!!!” Stiles thundered at Gia who cringed back. “What in the name of God have you done???”

“This was the only way.” Gia raised her chin defiantly. “You wanted Derek Hale and you got him.”

Stiles scrubbed his face with both hands and stared at the bare back of the sleeping man on Derek’s bed. Hell, even the black tattoo was there between the shoulder-blades. Stiles didn’t even know what to make of that!

“THIS is why you needed the key to his loft?” Stiles pointed an accusatory finger at Gia. “You could have told us your plans.”

“I was not sure it would work.” Gia said defensively.

“What?” Stiles snapped. “Magically kidnapping a man from an alternate universe because he looks like Derek? You bet your ass it wouldn’t work for Kate will see right through him.”

“I didn’t mean that.” Gia huffed. “I meant the act of bringing him here. I was not sure I could pull it off.”

“You mean you didn’t even know if you would have hurt him while doing this?” Stiles’ voice rose several octaves. Granted it was a complete stranger, granted he didn’t even belong to stiles’ universe or reality or dimension, but he was still a person.

“You need to take a few risks to gain something.” Gia shrugged nonchalantly and Stiles never wanted to beat somebody to death so dearly before this. “And besides, you don’t need to worry about Kate not falling for this.”

“Why?" Stiles’ eyes narrow.

At this point of time the man in question chose to wake up. He stirred lazily around, his movement sleep-heavy and suddenly, as if sensing something was off, the man was sitting bolt upright, all traces of sleep gone from his body language.

“How cow!” Stiles remarked and took a shocked step back.

“Is that Derek?” Gia asked curious. “Does he look like Derek?”

The man was now climbing down the bed and standing upright, with his feet planted apart, looking between Stiles and Gia back and forth with a puzzled frown.

Raven hair, check, dark stubble check, rainbow-coloured iris, check, body carved by angels, check, grey sweatpants, keeping with the Derek-colour-theme, check, frown firmly in place, check…

He just didn’t look like Derek Hale…it was Derek Fucking Hale standing in front of them!

…

“Let me get it straight.” Der-, Tyler, his name was Tyler, Stiles corrected mentally, leaned forward in his seat and started. “You mean to say you guys have not set up an elaborate prank on me and that you are NOT the people I know you are. In fact, I have arrived at some alternate reality where –”

“Kidnapped.” Lydia corrected, glowering at Gia, who still looked far less guilty than she had reasons to be.

“Ok.” Tyler sighed, closing his eyes tiredly. “Kidnapped whatever.”

“No. There is an important distinction.” Lydia went on like he hadn’t even spoken. “We are not kidnappers, unlike Kate.”

“Kate?” Tyler’s eyes flew open. “Kate Argent?”

“You know Kate Argent?” Scott asked, surprised.

“Well I already told you that I am an actor. I am into this TV Series called ‘Teen Wolf’ and that my character's name is Derek Hale..."

"Hence the tattoo." Stiles blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Yeah." Tyler nodded. "Rather than painting it on each time we shoot, they went for a semi-permanent ink. I wonder why it's not faded yet."

"Stiles!" Scott exclaimed.

"Sorry. Irrelevant details. I get lost into trivial details sometimes. Please carry on." Stiles waved his hand.

"Ok," Tyler eyed him dubiously. Stiles couldn't really blame him for he got that a lot. "So from what you have told me so far, it seems your life is the real life version of my series?” Tyler explained.

“How is it even possible?” Scott exclaimed.

“How are werewolves possible?” Tyler raised his eyebrows. Oh, the silent judgment was so very present there! It was too Derek for Stiles’ sanity. Even Derek's moss green Henley, dark jeans and black boots fitted him like a second skin. “I mean seriously, if you hadn't just shown me your transformation I would have never believed you guys.”

“Back up to Kate.” Stiles tried to focus at the task at hand for Tyler’s expressions were causing goose-bumps on his skin. “What do you know about Kate? What happened to her in your last…episode?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know. I sort of dropped out of the show in the last season.” Tyler said and he actually sounded apologetic about it.

Stiles wanted to stab himself, in the eye! They had kidnapped this person, ripping him off his safe universe where the horrors and nightmares of their world were dramatized and made into a TV show and had dragged him into danger. Gia was not even confident about the spell performed on him and that if it at all could be reversed as easily as it was cast. And it was this man, this version of Derek, who was sounding apologetic that he couldn’t be more helpful.

“Why?” He asked and Tyler’s eyes snapped to him.

His expression was, Stiles couldn’t even put a finger on it…for it was Derek all right. The serious expression (though Stiles didn’t know if it was because of the fucked up situation or he was naturally this serious), the small frown between the eyes, the sudden flash of vulnerability in the green-hazel eyes and finally the strange calmness that was there beneath the worry and the confusion, the feeling that the person sitting on the couch at Derek’s loft surrounded by Scott and the pack was actually quite zen-like, exactly like Derek had been in the last few months of their knowing the silent and broody wolf.

“Sorry,” Tyler was the first to break the eye-contact when he realised he had been staring at Stiles a little bit too long. “You look and act so much like my friend. On the show. Our Stiles. Dylan. His name is Dylan.” He mumbled.

Stiles couldn’t help but stare at the dark head bent over the clasped hands.

…

“So why are we wasting time?” Tyler looked at their faces in turn. “Tell me the plan and let us start.”

“What?”

“The plan.”

He received a blank stare from everybody again.

Tyler sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Why was he feeling so tired anyway?

“This little thing people make before going on a mission.”

“We know what a plan is.” Stiles said indignantly.

“You could have fooled me.” Tyler muttered under the breath.

“What do you mean?” Stiles narrowed his eyes at him.

“I know all about your little adventures and how well they go.” Tyler huffed. “I have actually acted them out.”

“And still you want to be a part of it?”

“Of course.” He said without missing a beat.

“You are an idiot.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow at Stiles. “You just stole my line.”

Stiles couldn’t form words for a good couple of minutes.

…

“This is NOT getting anywhere.” Scott was ready to tear his hair out in frustration.

“That is because you are not ready to use the solution that is RIGHT in front of you.” Tyler scowled.

His scowl was almost as impressive as Derek’s. Stiles was not even sure if he was just channeling his inner-Derek for the man was a bloody actor or if he was really like this in real life.

“What you are suggesting is insane.” Stiles was furious too.

“We cannot possibly exchange Melissa’s life with yours.” Stiles almost screeched. “You are just a fragile human. She would…we wouldn’t even exchange the real Derek for Melissa. Kate is bad news for any kind of Derek, werewolf or human.”

“But you already did it once.” Tyler said, surprise colouring his tone, instead of judgement, as should have been the case.

Scott’s eyes widened at the mention of how he made Derek bite Gerard in an effort to kill him. Stiles felt livid. It was not something to be brought up in a casual conversation. Well, Tyler seemed to be exactly the same sort of douchebag as Derek Hale, except for in a milder form.

“That was way below the belt.” He muttered.

“And what you did to Derek was not?” Tyler raised those fucking eyebrows again. Stiles wanted to punch him.

“That was…”

“Water under the bridge.” Tyler raised a hand interrupting Stiles. “I think Derek understood anyways.”

“Dude you cannot presume to know what Derek thought.” Stiles protested.

“I kind of do.” Tyler retorted. “I play him, remember.”

“But you are NOT him.”

“Is that why you guys wouldn’t take me with you?” He narrowed his eyes at them. “Because I am not really Derek and you think I would mess up?”

“That is not –”

“I maybe human, but I am not fragile you know.”

Stiles couldn’t take it anymore. It had been building for quite a while and of late the idea of casual violence was not as abhorrent to him as it used to be before.

He just lunged without thinking. He had been taking self-defense training with Deputy Parish for last six months and all the running through the preserve had paid off. He knew he was stronger and faster than the average kids of his age and he could definitely take on somebody like Tyler who for all his impressive muscles was a mere actor with zero experience of defending himself in life and death situations. And Stiles had been into such situations so many times that he had stopped counting.

He didn’t really intend to hurt him, just to subdue him physically.

He was not really looking for a substitute for venting his anger on…on somebody else.

He would vehemently deny such an accusation.

…

“Stiles.” Tyler hovered awkwardly in front of him, hands inches away from his face, like he was barely holding himself back from touching him. “I am so sorry. I didn't...you just caught me off-guard!”

Stiles eyed the man in front of him balefully while Lydia presses the ice pack against the base of his skull a little more forcefully than strictly necessary.

“It was completely unnecessary…” She was mumbling under her breath.

“You are right.” Tyler’s face fell and for the first time Stiles saw a completely new expression on his face. He had never seen Derek looking contrite. Gutted with guilt, yes, but contrite or apologetic was an expression which he never thought would ever see on Derek’s face.

Tyler looked all kinds of apologetic now.

“Not you.” Lydia glared at Stiles. “I am talking to this idiot. You did the right thing beating some sense into him.”

“Lydia.” Stiles started.

“You should know better by now than to take people at their face-value.”

“How would I know he is a freaking Jackie Chan?” Stiles whined.

“It is jujutsu not kung fu.” Tyler muttered.

“What?”

“Jackie Chan practices kung fu.” Tyler explained.

“Wow, imagine not knowing such a life-altering piece of information.” Stiles sassed.

“Guys, focus.” Lydia scolded and Tyler smiled up at her in a familiar way that set Stiles’ heart aching again. He lost his smile though as soon as his eyes fell on Scott who was sitting by the huge window holding his head with both hands. As if reading his mind, Tyler walked around the desk and crouched on the ground to be on the eye-level with Scott.

“Hey,” his voice was surprisingly gentle. “We need to get this – ”

Scott’s eyes snapped up as well as a few of the pack-members’ and they turned towards the metal door of the loft in unison. All humans turned towards the door as well, alerted by the wolves’ reaction. Everybody including Deputy Parish was here except for Kira who had moved to New York for college. The Sheriff wouldn’t head this way without alerting them first.

That left only one possibility.

Stiles’ heartbeat reached a crescendo when the metal door slid open.

"Apparently I received two hundred and seventeen missed calls in the last two days on my old phone which, by the way, I don't even use any more and Braeden had to track me down from Alaska where I was in the middle of something ." A familiar figure sauntered inside confidently like he owned the place.

Wait, but he did!

“Care to elaborate?” The voice was deceptively calm.

Tyler straightened up slowly. His mouth fell open slightly after taking in the person making his way towards Scott.

Then he stopped dead in his track when his focus suddenly snapped to Tyler.

Stiles never understood the meaning of pin-drop silence before this. He was sure he as well as his friends had stopped breathing for a couple of seconds.

“Who the hell are YOU?” Derek barked at the stranger ignoring everybody else in the room.

“My name is Tyler Hoechlin.” The stranger replied softly. “And I believe you are Derek Hale.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like my fic, drop by at my website at   
> [www.theauthorkamalika.org](https://www.theauthorkamalika.org/)


	2. Impact

“We can totally explain.” Scott hedged. “It is just that we thought –”

“Explain.”

“ – we would not be able to, wait what?”

A brief pause ensued.

“Explain.”

...

“And you immediately thought of kidnapping my look-alike from a different reality!”

“Guys...” Tyler cleared his throat.

“Not my idea.”

“But you were about to send him off to Kate.”

“If I may...”

“NOT my idea.”

“People...”

“He is HUMAN. Do you have any idea what a constant flow of 10000 volt electricity would do to a human?”

“B...”

“Oh my God, Derek...we were not planning on handing him over to Kate on a silver platter!”

“Oh right! You would only dangle him in front of the deranged woman like a piece of meat. That makes it SO much better.”

“...[frantic wave of hands]...”

“It was all because a certain person would not deign to pick up the damn phone. What were we supposed to do?” 

“I was working.”

“You...working?” A derisive laugh. “That is a new one!”

“Stiles.” 

“Derek.”

“Stiles.”

“Yes dear.”

“He is going to get his guts spilled on the floor, right?” Tyler had quit all attempts to interrupt the bickering duo and looked over at Scott, not even bothering to lower his voice. “I mean any moment now, right?”

“No. He won’t.” Scott scoffed. 

“What?” Tyler glanced sideways at him incredulously. “Look at me. I look like that when I am one shove away from first-degree murder.”

“He does.” Scott breathed out a long-suffering sigh. “But he won’t.”

Tyler looked at them speculatively, narrowing his eyes.

It was a bit like watching a tennis match and his neck started to hurt after sometime.

“Oh, I see!” 

Tyler started with his shoes.

“...you went ahead and disappeared without a trace. What kind of an asshole does that! Your type, apparently, for you didn’t even care if we lived or...OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING???”

The last part was directed towards Tyler who was calmly taking off his shirt after shrugging off the leather jacket Stiles had handed him earlier. The loft was cold and he didn’t run at werewolf temperature.

“What the hell?” Stiles yelled again when Tyler completely ignored him in favour of stripping.

He unbuttoned his jeans next.

“STOP. Please stop for the sake of my sanity.” Stiles looked like he was about to cry or jump on Tyler to physically stop him from taking off his clothes.

Tyler’s fingers stilled on the button of his jeans and he raised an eyebrow at Stiles.

“Do I have your attention now?” He smirked.

“YES. Jesus!” Stiles flailed, hitting Malia, who was standing a bit too close, in the eye. 

Tyler felt a pair of eyes on him and he looked over at Derek who looked back at him like he was a puzzle to solve.

“Thanks, gentlemen.” Tyler didn’t even try to hold back the sarcasm and in turn promptly earned an eye-roll from Derek. 

“Look, I was the one who suggested that we could all go at the rendezvous point that Kate had selected and let Kate see me from a distance. We can safely assume her attention will be focused on me. We can insist she shows us Melissa first before I go over to her. The moment she takes Melissa out of the hiding point, we attack or we may try to sneak up from behind.”

“You watch too many movies.” Derek shook his head. 

Tyler exchanged a quick glance with Scott.

“Yeah...about that.” He started. 

...

“You mean to say our life is a fucking TV series in another reality?” Derek growled.

Tyler was not aware a human could even make that sound. But then, Derek was not strictly human.

“I am sorry.” He said and he truly meant it. Though meant for teenagers, ‘Teen Wolf’ contained a surprising amount of darkness. It was almost scary to imagine real people actually living and breathing that darkness while in another reality it is just entertainment.

“I feel horrible. I can’t even imagine what you guys have gone through.”

“Only that you already have.”

Tyler hung his head in consternation.

“Yes I did.” He muttered. “Part of my job.”

Then he looked up, brightening. “The only way I can make amends to you guys is to help you rescue Melissa.”

“I am already here and I don’t need a body-double.” Derek pointed out.

“But I can still go with you.” Tyler suggested hopefully. “I can confuse them, at best, or can provide a distraction at worst.”

“No.”

...

Stiles had gone off on a tangent about how the rendezvous point was an abandoned warehouse and why it was such a bad choice for both sides concerned.

“Stiles, we would love to hear Wikipedia’s opinion on the murder-rate at or near or around abandoned warehouses AFTER we...........would you please stop that?”

Derek snapped at Tyler who averted his eyes guiltily.

“Sorry.” He gulped. “I am...I...sorry.”

Derek glowered at him some more before turning back towards the group gathered around the work desk with a map of Beacon Hills spread on it.

“Cut him some slack man.” Scott came up to his defense. “He is freaked out.”

“I am not freaked out.” Tyler protested.

Derek looked at him, unimpressed. 

“Well, maybe I am.” He hedged. “But that doesn’t change anything. I am going with you guys and that is final.”

“Why are you so stubborn?” Derek frowned.

“Gee, I wonder where that came from.” Stiles snarked.

Derek went quiet.

...

“Hey you ok?” Tyler sat down beside Derek on the dark three-seater sofa while the rest of the pack was poring over the map and Stiles gesticulating wildly, casting withering glares at Derek’s direction every now and then.

“Yes,” came the reply after a while, by the time Tyler was sure he was not going to get any.

But Derek’s head was still tipped back, one hand thrown over his face, hiding his eyes.

“Are you sure?”

Derek removed his hand, but his eyes were still squeezed shut.

“No.”

Tyler was silent for a couple of minutes, but Derek was making that face again, like he was in severe pain. This time he actually pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. 

“Do you have migraine?” Tyler asked, concerned. “I thought werewolves cannot get sick.”

“I have a rare type of migraine.” Derek sighed heavily. “It is called Stiles.”

Tyler opened his mouth, but then bit down on his lip, hard, before he could say something .

He did value his life, or his limbs for that matter. 

“Why are you so hell bent on accompanying us?” Derek suddenly asked. 

Tyler finally knew what those fangirls were talking about all these time: ‘intense and piercing gaze’ indeed! Did he look like this when he played Derek? 

“Well?” 

Tyler shook himself out of his trance.

“I...please don’t get mad at me for saying this.”

Derek just stared without comment.

Tyler couldn’t quite meet his eyes. So he placed his elbows on the knees and concentrated on a spot on the carpet instead.

“Well, when I was playing Derek, playing you, I used to make up these background stories all by myself. Just to make the character look alive, you know. The kind of secrets that we were not even showing on the series. The audience would never know what Derek’s favourite colour was or what he did when he lived at New York, what his favourite subject at school was or if he was a teacher’s pet or if he was a mama’s boy and I just...”

He broke off. Something heavy was settling down on his chest making it increasingly difficult to breathe.

“I didn’t know it was all true. I didn’t know all these horrible things were actually happening to you...Paige, Kate, the fire and then it just...went on.”

He stole a glance at Derek who was still staring with an inscrutable expression on his face.

“I just...it is probably foolish, but I don’t know if I had stopped playing you, all those things that I acted out, might not have taken place.” He confessed and his voice sounded small and brittle in his own ears. 

“I left Beacon Hills in the series and so did you. You seem to be at peace now. If I had...not acted out some particular scenes, probably you wouldn’t have...”

He trailed off, uncertain.

“And now, with Kate, I kind of know how she has this ability to get under your skin.” 

Derek’s expression didn’t change one bit except for a muscle in his jaw started ticking.

“I cannot possibly let you face her alone.” He finished. “I would not be able to meet my own eyes in the mirror if I do that.”

“It is not your responsibility.” Derek finally spoke up and his voice was gruff. 

“Well, it kind of is.” Tyler countered hotly. “You are probably me in this universe, have your considered that? So it is probably a purely selfish impulse.”

“Not good enough.” Derek shook his head, but there was a small uptick at the corner of his lips, like a ghost of a smile. “I am capable of taking care of myself.”

“Funny that you think that.” Tyler said irritably and got up from the sofa.

It was no use. Reasoning with a brick wall might have achieved him a better result.

“Cerulean.” Derek suddenly called from behind.

“What?” Tyler turned back, confused.

“It is a shade of blue.”

“I know what it is.” Tyler huffed. “What of it?”

“My favourite colour.”

....

Derek paused by Stiles’s jeep before getting into his Toyota with Liam and Brett.

Scott had his face buried in his hands and Derek was not very good with words of encouragements. Thank God Stiles had got it covered.

“It is going to be ok.” He said, grabbing his friend’s shoulder with one hand.

“No it is not.”

“Since when have you become such a pessimist?” Stiles admonished.

“Since I have been failing at everything.” Scott sounded on the verge of tears. “I have been failing as an alpha and now I have failed as a son.”

Stiles and Derek exchanged a worried glance over Scott’s bowed head.

“Scott.” Derek willed his voice to be gentle. He had never seen Scott so freaked out before and it was a bit heartbreaking to look at.

“Nothing will happen to Melissa. We all are here with you and Kate is alone. She cannot win this.”

“You promise?” Scott looked up at Derek with tears streaking down his face. He sounded small, vulnerable and every bit like a scared nineteen-year-old that he was underneath the badass True Alpha of Beacon Hills.

Derek placed a hand on his other shoulder and squeezed gently.

“I promise.” He said solemnly.

Somebody cleared their throat behind them.

All three of them turned back, Scott and Stiles twisting in their seats to find Gia wringing her hands nervously.

“What?” Derek frowned instantly picking up the panic radiating off the young witch.

“Mason called.” She said.

“And.” Derek prompted when it was apparent she was not going to say anything further, but warning bells had already started ringing in his head.

Mason had been given the responsibility to baby-sit the human from the alternate universe.

Derek’s body-double.

“He...ah...he found the loft empty.” Gia’s voice was barely audible. “Tyler was nowhere to be seen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like my fic, drop by at my website at  
> [www.theauthorkamalika.org](https://www.theauthorkamalika.org/)


	3. Dialect

Tyler eyed Theo across the room. The rest of the pack had left along with Scott and Derek. Stiles had hesitated a bit and informed him somebody called Mason would arrive within a few minutes and that he wouldn’t be alone in the empty loft.

Tyler wanted to protest, but he knew it would be of no use.

The mulish expression on Derek’s face as he looked back at him from the door of the loft was enough proof.

So he didn’t know why Theo lingered when he was apparently a part of the pack. He was not acquainted with Cody Christian. He was not with Teen Wolf any more when the actor came on board and so it was not as strange to interact with him as it was with the rest of the crew.

But then...

“I can help you.”

“With what?” Tyler frowned.

Theo beamed at him.

“I can read you like a book, you know.” He said. “Unlike the other you.”

Tyler suppressed a groan. He was familiar with this particular type of assholes. The smug and the cock-sure ones and the ones which were all dark inside though they liked to hang around people who were the exact antithesis to them. It was not because they wanted to redeem themselves. Far from it in fact for this was the type that usually picked up on the happy ones for they didn’t like it one bit. They would want to suck the happiness out of a person like a leech.  


Tyler wanted to hate him on sight.

“Why would you help me?” 

“I am a helpful person.”

Tyler smiled. 

“Somehow I highly doubt that.” He let the words fall softly, feeling the tension crawling around them, filling up the blank space in between.

“How would you know?” Theo cocked an eyebrow. “I hadn’t arrived until you were gone in your show.”

“All the more reason I shouldn’t trust you.”

“Dude, you are not Derek. You realise that right?” Theo taunted. “I heard he is the one with a mile-wide trust issue.”

“He doesn’t have trust issues.” Tyler commented, still holding his smile in place (he had a lot of practice with that). “He trusts Scott and Stiles well enough.”

“Oh my God,” Theo huffed out a laugh. “Are you defending him now? What are you, his knight in shining armour?”

Tyler turned his back towards him abruptly and padded off towards the open kitchen. It was either that or he would have to strangle the obnoxious kid with bare hands. He needed to rummage through Derek’s cupboards for something stronger than coffee if this was what he would be dealing with for the next few hours.

“Hey, don’t be offended.” Theo had, predictably followed him. “Please, I really want to help.”

“How would you propose to do that?” He asked, trying hard not to sound at least a bit curious.

“I can take you to Kate before they reach there.” 

Tyler turned round to face him at that.

“How?”

Theo considered it a victory. He walked down to the side table where a few helmets were stacked on and threw one over to Tyler who caught it easily.

“We will take a shortcut.” He smirked.

....

“You wanted me and I am here.” Tyler glowered at Kate across the empty warehouse. “Now keep your promise and release her.”

“What’s the hurry?” Kate smiled toothily, idly picking at Melissa’s bare arm with the tip of her claw. 

Careful... careful...

Melissa was bound and gagged, but apart from a bruise on her forehead she seemed mostly unharmed. That was a relief as well as the fact that the berserkers at the door of the warehouse had let him pass at a silent command from their mistress. So far so good, but he knew things would take a turn for ugly pretty soon, probably starting with him.

Would it hurt too much Tyler wondered and tried to fight down a bout of nausea.

“Are you deaf?” He said in a bored monotone. “I have been telling you the pack still doesn’t know I am here and they are not quite in the mood of letting you go this time. They will kill you.”

Kate let out a derisive snort.

“You think they are not capable of doing that? Do you know Scott sold me to Gerard to keep his mom safe and Stiles would have sold his soul to devil to protect his father?”

“I am not scared of them.” Kate scoffed.

“Is that why you have surrounded yourself with berserkers?” Tyler tilted his head to one side.

“You are talking too much.” Kate stalked forward, lithe and graceful like a snake.

“I prefer less talking, more screaming and begging.”

“You really don’t.” Tyler smiled. “A few moments ago you couldn’t even bring your pet berserkers to hurt me.”

“That is because the only person to touch you today would be me.” 

“Is that so?” Tyler raised one eyebrow sardonically.

Kate kept on walking towards him.

Don’t back down now....don’t back down...

“You are different today.” Kate’s eyes sparkled under the yellow light. “More like...when you used to be mad for me. Ah happy memories!”

She stopped a couple of feet away and sniffed the air delicately.

“You are a human again.” She sneered like it was an insult. 

“And you are a fucking psycho,” Tyler retorted, “again.”

His nostrils flared as he inhaled the cloying smell of Kate’s perfume. He closed his eyes for a brief second and swallowed.

From now on it would go one way or the other!

“And one who is totally hung up on me,” he added under the breath, “as I am on you.”

Build it up, torturously slow...

“Excuse me?” Kate raised an eyebrow.

“You heard me first time.” Tyler smirked at her. “That was a nice touch by the way. To murder my family to get my attention.”

“If you don’t remember,” Kate snarled, “I already had it.”

“Oh it was never enough for you.” Tyler shook his head. “At first you were just a rebound and you knew it.”

“Was I now?”

Tyler let his lips crook upward devilishly. He was told he could be devastating if he put some effort into it. Well, he had never put so much effort into anything before in his life.

He had to for after all it was a performance of a lifetime!

He took a couple of steps to stand beside a concrete column and let her walk right up to him.

Waiting...

For he knew it was not so much about power, at least not on the physical level, but there was something else that was at play. He knew it for he had acted in it. He knew why Kate always had the upper hand even when she was human and far less powerful than Derek. He knew why Derek wouldn’t be able to beat her because he was in Derek’s head and that was so fucked up, but right now it gave him the all-important perspective. 

He knew Derek held it over Kate in equal measures and that Derek was clueless about it for Kate was his blind spot and his worst nightmare rolled together.

But he was not Derek!

Therefore, when she was close enough, he would easily reach out, grab her arms and slam her against the concrete, superior strength notwithstanding, crowding her with his body.

Kate huffed out a laugh, like she was amused, but her breathing hitched noticeably.

Tyler smirked against her hair.

“Sweetheart.” She purred against his ear. “You know I am going to kill you eventually, right?’

Tyler fought down the disgust and counted his heartbeats in his head.

Steady now...

He hoped he had got the timing right. Theo had told him before dropping him off a few meters away (he wasn’t interested in a face-off with a berserker) he had more or less five minutes on the pack which he knew was approaching fast. 

He hoped they would keep it quiet for the first round at least.

“No, you are not.” He breathed out, rearing back, dropping his eyes to her lips now. “Because you want more.” 

Then he added, with voice dropping several octaves, “you always wanted to be the only person who would own me, body and soul, didn’t you?”

Kate’s tawny eyes were at half-mast. She had hopefully all but forgotten the existence of Melissa who by now was inching towards the door, one millimeter each second, with her back against the wall.

Hopefully.

He again leaned into her personal space, touching, but not quite touching, until...

Suddenly she was kissing him, their lips colliding roughly, teeth grazing against skin, tongues sweeping into the expanse of their mouth, head angling, desperately gripping one another and Tyler let himself be lost into the kiss. It was like a vortex and he was drowning, letting himself drown, willingly. Kate tilted his head slightly with her eyes closed in bliss.

Something crashed against the door of the warehouse. The roar that reverberated through the empty warehouse was terrifying and he huffed out an annoyed sigh against Kate’s lips.

“Scott.” He murmured. “Do you take care of him or should I?”

“Hmmm...?” Kate hummed absent-mindedly, catching his lower lip between her teeth.

“Scott’s mom.” He nipped at her jawline, making her fist her hands into his jacket. “You need to let her go.”

Kate’s eyes flew open at that, flashing gold.

“You are not Derek.” 

Her face was transforming into something wild and utterly malignant and Tyler didn’t even have the time to take a step back before she picked him up by the throat and threw him like a ragdoll. His body ricocheted from the wall and Tyler could vaguely remember doing a pretty similar stunt when he was thrown across the room by a void Stiles. 

Again before he could as much as look up from the dust, she was dragging him upright again to slam his head against the wall and her claws were out, digging into his skin. 

Then he was just a bundle of hurt and was gasping at the searing pain at his side that stood out amidst everything.  


The last thing Tyler remembered hearing was Derek screaming at him to get down.

...

“Welcome back.” Somebody drawled. 

Tyler groaned. He opened one eye experimentally and it fucking hurt. Then he blinked.

A blurry Stiles was hovering over him in his line of vision.

“Did we get her out?” He asked anxiously, vaguely registering he was lying on the bed at Derek’s loft. “Melissa?”

“Dude, THAT is the first question you want to ask?” Stiles looked down at him like he had lost his mind. 

“Stiles.” He complained and winced, regretting his action immediately.

“We got her out.” Stiles assured him. 

“Is everybody ok?” Tyler reached up and gripped his hand, suddenly remembering the three berserkers looming at the warehouse. 

“Everybody is ok.” Stiles confirmed patting him lightly on the shoulder, which seemed to the only place that did not hurt. “More or less.” He added on a second thought.

“Is Derek ok?” Tyler asked more quietly. “Did Kate...you got her before she got him, right?”

All these talk was making his head hurt, but he had to ask.

Stiles stared at him and he tried hard not to squirm under the knowing gaze.

Then he pointedly took in Tyler’s injuries, like his eyes were cataloguing each one of them. There was a bandage on his head and he supposed it was the reason behind the splitting headache. There were bandages on his arms and ankles and he was sure he was covered with bruises, so much so that it hurt to even blink. But worst of all was the burn at his side. He tried to gingerly touch the area, but could feel nothing but more bandages.

“Well?” He raised an eyebrow, ignoring the pain it caused.

“Do you have any idea that you almost died?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter because I didn’t.”

“It doesn’t m –” Stiles looked away, but his lips were pressed into a thin line.

“Kate wouldn’t have killed me.” Tyler tried to reason with him. He knew he didn’t need to justify his action to this kid, but for some reason he wanted to. 

“Look I am not an idiot, ok –”

Stiles gave him a look.

“Ok, maybe my actions were somewhat misleading,” he conceded.

“I knew she could have seriously hurt me.” Tyler went on ignoring the pointed stare. “But I also knew if she had a weakness, it was Derek and that she might beat the living daylight out of me, but she wouldn’t kill me.”

“If you were so confident about that why didn’t you let Derek handle it?” Stiles narrowed his eyes.

“It is different with him. I just can’t. Not after knowing what he...how she...” he trailed off. 

He didn’t even know how to explain the gut feeling that Derek would have been far worse off than him and that he never healed each time Kate hurt him. That in all probability, Derek didn’t allow himself to heal.

“I just...just tell me Kate never got to him.” He pleaded.

“Why should I tell you anything when you scared the shit out of us like that?” 

They just didn’t get it. Tyler sighed.

“Never mind,” he said.

He felt Stiles was still staring at him.

“It is important to you somehow, isn’t it?” Stiles asked as quietly.

There were a million things that he wanted to say in answer to that, but Tyler stubbornly refused to meet his gaze.

“He killed the berserkers, all three of them.” There was a barely concealed awe in his voice. “Just broke their damn skulls with bare hands.”

Oh! 

“Some crazy dude had Kate’s attention averted for long enough that we caught her off guard and got Melissa out of harm’s way.” Stiles smiled softly.

“Chris got Kate but not before Scott took a swing or two.”

“Good.” Tyler said curtly, still looking up at the ceiling.

“Isn’t there anything else you want to ask?” Stiles teased.

Yes, like who carried me up six storeys.

“No.” He said.

“Derek had gone back to help Chris bury her remains right now.” Stiles explained, ignoring his denial. “Making sure she remained dead this time.”

“I didn’t ask.”

Stiles chuckled again. “Whatever you say big guy.”

“Why are you not with them?”

“Not very fond of blood and gore.”

Tyler was silent for a couple of minutes. 

Stiles walked over to the desk and started fiddling with a laptop.

“I don’t need a baby-sitter.” Tyler finally looked over at him. 

Stiles peeked at him over the laptop lid. He looked like he was biting down his lip for he wanted to smile again, but was trying hard to suppress it.

Tyler scowled.

“I know.” Stiles said finally.

 

He never left.

...

“You have nothing to say to him even after he pulled that stunt on us?” Stiles glared at Derek incredulously.

“No.” Derek had gone back to monosyllables.

Tyler smirked up at Stiles. It had been more than twelve hours. Thankfully, except for the broken arm, his injuries had proven to be mostly superficial. It was Melissa who had stitched and bandaged him up as well as she could as he had learnt later and had Stiles buy some medicines for him. Scott had gone home to reunite with his mom with a promise to return next day along with her to check up on him. The girls had headed home and Chris was still working with the Sheriff and Deputy Parrish to suppress yet another supernatural crime.

He was still on Derek’s bed for Derek had glared at him each time he had tried to subtly move over to occupy the couch and right now Derek was changing his bandages, quite expertly at that. Tyler was really curious who taught him to do it. 

It occurred to him it might have been Braeden.

“Gawd...that is so gross.”

Stiles’ pointed at the gash on his side, over the ribcage, where Kate’s claws had slashed the flesh open.

“At the very least it is not a rotting bullet wound that gives me a forty-eight hour window to live.”

He received a withering look from the human kid.

“Don’t ever remind me of that. How do you even know that? You are officially banned to ever talk about that again. Forever.”

“But you found Derek’s fast recovery so ‘awesome’” Tyler air-quoted, smirking at Stiles’ indignant bitch-face. Derek swatted his hands down.

“Trying to bandage you up here.”

“More like trying to mummify me.” Tyler grumbled under the breath. “You are like a dog with a bone. Honestly, you must be internally jumping up and down that you could make a guinea pig out of me!”

“Dog jokes, really?” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Even I don’t make them anymore.”

“Because he would rip your throat out,” Tyler retorted gleefully, “with his teeth.” 

No, he couldn’t help himself, like he was on a roll, though he understood he was being incredibly cheesy.

“Oh my God, Derek can you please hit him on the head to make him unconscious again. I liked him unconscious.”

Derek who had knelt down on the floor to inspect his ankle didn’t even reward Stiles with a glance.

“You wound me Stiles, really.” Tyler smiled coyly at him. “And here I thought you liked me every way.” 

“Whoa...” Stiles held up both hands like a traffic cop. “Wait right there!”

“What with the pet names and winks and the flirting...”

“I am...that is...slanders and lies.” Stiles spluttered and he went somewhat blue in the face.

“He might have a point you know?” Derek said quietly with his head bent on his ankle and Tyler realised Derek was smiling under his breath.

But Stiles couldn’t see that. His eyes were on Tyler who couldn’t help laughing outright.

“Holy Mother of God, are you....is that how you look when you laugh? Seriously. STOP. Aaaaaand you have dimples. Of course you have!” Stiles complained sounding utterly resigned.

Tyler was eyeing Derek whose smile had disappeared pretty soon as he took in the state of his ankle.

It was probably broken and now he was looking angry.

Stiles too had picked up on Derek’s sudden change in mood for he was perceptive like that.

“Damn man, did she leave any part of you intact?” Stiles sounded much too upset than the situation warranted if you asked Tyler. “We should have taken you to the hospital.”

This argument had been going on for some time and Tyler had vehemently protested against it. He didn’t want to be another unsolved case for the Sheriff to have to bury. Also, Gia wouldn’t be able to perform her spell in the hospital, once she found out how to send him back to his world.

What he didn’t add was Beacon Hills Hospital kind of terrified him and he felt safe here in the loft.

It felt like home, which was a very, very wrong sentiment to say out loud.

“It doesn’t hurt much.” He quickly assured, not liking the stormy look on Derek’s face.

Derek gave him a flat look for, ok, that was the wrong thing to say to a werewolf. 

“You could try to jujutsu her, man.” Stiles lamented. “Maybe it would have worked.”

“Jujutsu?” Derek quirked an eyebrow.

“Tyler here apparently is a martial arts expert.”

Derek turned his gaze on Tyler who ducked his head shyly.

“I just...it is nothing. I know some basics.”

“Dude, you wiped the floor with my ass.” Stiles gesticulated. “And I have been under training for last six months, rigorous training and dad and Parish don’t go easy on me.”

Then he narrowed his eyes. “You have been learning it for a while, isn’t it. That was NOT a move some amateur would pull off.”

“Shut up Stiles.” Tyler grumbled.

“I will do no such thing and you know that.” Stiles smiled evilly for he was a little shit. “For now I have a thousand questions for you like why martial arts of all things. Did you aspire to be a gangster or God forbid a spy, like James Bond.”

Tyler didn’t even need to look at Derek to feel his eye-roll.

“You don’t always learn to fight to defend yourself or to beat people up.” Tyler said. “Because you cannot always win a fight no matter how powerful you are.”

Derek stared at him.

“What is the point then?” Stiles huffed.

“It is so that you feel confident enough, to be strong enough, to be able to hold your head high.”

“Huh...” Stiles said, a bit dazed. “And here I always thought learning self-defense is all about learning self defense!”

Tyler felt Derek’s gaze and looked over at him.

Derek was still regarding him silently.

...

“Something happened to you.” Derek said matter-of-factly, but he was concentrating on his food. It was Chinese take-out today and the pack had headed out early because of a storm warning.

They were seated on the long velvet sofa, eating out of the cardboard boxes. It reminded Tyler strangely of the sleep-overs he used to have at his best-friend’s place while still in high-school.

“Huh?” Tyler asked, confused.

“Something happened that made you decide to learn to defend yourself.” Derek looked at him, giving him his full attention.

“It is ok,” he said when Tyler didn’t answer for a long while. “You don’t have to tell me.” 

“It was nothing.” Tyler tried for nonchalance and probably missed it by a mile. “I simply over-reacted. It was my f –”

“Don’t.” Derek’s voice was low and furious and his entire body had gone bowstring taut. “Don’t ever say it was your fault.”

The loft was suddenly warmer, or it might be Tyler’s imagination.

He nodded dumbly and Derek’s shoulders relaxed minutely at that.

“You should buy a TV.” He suddenly blurted out.

“What?”

“TV. Television. The thing that displays motion pictures.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “For the kids.”

“Kids?”

“Your kids.” Tyler winced. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I mean Scott and others. They would really appreciate it. The loft is the best place for them for strategising and pack-meetings. Some form of entertainment cannot hurt.”

“I don’t like TV.”

“I don’t like TV either.”

Derek gave him a look.

“I really don’t.” Tyler emphasised, smiling at the irony. “I prefer the movie theatre. But come on. You would totally give your life for these kids and you would not buy a TV for them? That is all sorts of ridiculous.” He rambled. 

It was not only Stiles, but Derek kind of had that effect on people, he suddenly realised. 

“I will think about it.”

“You would need wifi of course. Get some latest games consoles and probably an Xbox 360 while at it.” Tyler piped up, counting off his fingers. “A Netflix account is a must. A few DVDs, sci-fis and rom-coms and a few classics like Star Wars. Do you have Star Wars here? Or GoT. Everybody loves GoT. Oh and I almost forgot, some kitchen utensils would probably be nice. Maybe a barbeque too. I know you have the money.” 

Derek was staring at him like he had completely lost his mind and so he snapped his mouth shut for he realised he had been babbling again.

“Anything else, my master?” Derek raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

Tyler huffed out a laugh.

“You know you will make an excellent Genie of the Lamp, all grumpy and growly.” Tyler reached out and patted him on the arm. “You will be absolutely adorable.”

Derek snorted, but didn’t protest.

Tyler took that as a victory and he was still smiling when they had gone to bed or more accurately he to bed and Derek took the couch.

He didn’t tell Derek about Tennessee. Derek didn’t prod any further.

...

“What is to be done with the Calaveras?” Scott asked nobody in particular. “They had been after Kate and it has been close to a week since her death but they don’t seem to be in a hurry to leave.”

“You mean to say how to politely tell them to fuck the hell off.” Stiles nodded.

“I am going to talk to them.” Derek offered.

“You? Talking about truce?” Stiles turned on him. “YOU are not fit to initiate a ‘let us all be friends’ talk. You would be the last person I would want to be friends with, let alone the deranged hunters like Calaveras.”

“Why?” Derek asked.

Surely it wasn’t only Tyler who noticed how his lips were pressed tight around the corners.

“Because you are emotionally constipated.” Stiles retorted. “Tyler here is so much better than you. I wish it were him in your place to be our.....I bet we would be better off with him.”

Derek laughed. 

Tyler winced at that sound. It was like the tip of a knife scraping against a glass bottle.

“Well, I am sorry that I keep on disappointing people.”

...

“Do you know if there’s a Stiles lying around somewhere?” Sheriff Stilinski raised a questioning eyebrow at Derek who had answered the door. 

“I might have some idea.” Derek ushered him inside.

The Sheriff took in the scene in front of him and couldn’t help the twitch in his lips though he tried to go for stern.

His son and his best friend were occupying the sofa or more accurately almost draping themselves over a man sitting between them who could pass for Derek’s identical twin any given day. They had a controller each in their hands, with their concentration riveted on the huge flat-screen TV on the coffee table, the newest addition to the Spartan loft.

After a few moments Stiles fist pumped with a loud battle-cry and raised his hand for a high-five which was dutifully slapped on by the Derek-look-alike.

“That is...” he pointed at the TV.

“Don’t even ask.” Derek shook his head. “Beer?”

“Thank you.” He padded up to the open kitchen and received the chilled bottle offered by Derek gratefully.

Stiles had perfunctorily waved at him before getting engrossed into the game again. Derek-twin had stared at him for a bit longer and it looked like he was about to stand up and introduce himself, but was distracted by Stiles tugging at his elbow and was soon engrossed into the video game again.

Scott was the only one who looked a bit sheepish.

“This is the reason my son and Scott have decided to spend the summer break camping out at your loft?”

“Yes.”

The Sheriff sat down on the metal stool and observed the trio from across the loft.

The Derek-twin was wearing a grey vest and a pair of old, distressed jeans, obviously belonging to Derek, but somehow managed to look incredibly homely rather than edgy and dangerous, the look that Derek would undoubtedly pull off with the exact same ensemble. 

It might be the smile, which made the entire room light up. He couldn’t help but notice how Scott and Stiles beamed back at him each time he smiled, like they couldn’t even help it, like he was a young sun drawing the two boys easily into his orbit without even noticing it.

The Sheriff resisted the urge to steal a glance at his silent companion seated by him. Well, if this was how Derek Hale looked like when he smiled, it might be a good thing he never did, he wryly thought. For if he went down the road casually throwing around this laughter like the fucking sun, he would have sent half the female and a quarter of the male population of Beacon Hills to their early graves.

“He seems different than you.” The Sheriff observed.

“He is alright.”

“Well, coming from you that is high praise.” The Sheriff chuckled, amused.

“He smiles too much.”

The Sheriff laughed harder.

....

“I assume you are the latest supernatural phenomenon that my son wouldn’t stop talking about.” The Sheriff said with a neutral expression as Derek-twin approached him somewhat cautiously when Derek called him over.

“I am?” He asked with his brow furrowed in confusion. “Well, then I must introduce myself properly.” He extended his hand with an open expression. “I am Tyler Hoechlin and I am human. Nothing supernatural about me.” 

The Sheriff eyed his hand for a second or two but made no move to shake it.

Tyler’s smile dropped.

“I am Sheriff Stilinski, but you already know that.” He said. “What you don’t know is the length I would go to hurt people who try to hurt my kids.” He paused.

“I don’t think...” Derek started.

“Which includes Derek, here.” Derek fell silent at that.

“And I would have you know that I have a collection of bullets made of various things from wolfsbane to mistletoe, thanks to a man called Chris Argent and I am told I am an excellent shot.”

“John –” Derek tried again.

“I just want to make sure he is not an impostor and he really is what he claims he is.” The Sheriff addressed Derek without breaking eye-contact with Tyler who had gone somewhat pale. “You have been tricked by people posing as somebody else before. I don’t want the history repeating itself.”

“I am not trying to trick anybody, I swear.” Tyler’s eyes were as big as saucers which ought to have been funny if he didn’t look so painfully earnest. The Sheriff pitied those cops who had ever tried to pull him over or give him a ticket. Hell, even he had to stomp down the urge to pinch his cheeks and reassure him everything is right with the world. Yes, he was all sorts of adorable and the Sheriff couldn’t imagine in his wildest dreams that Derek Hale could ever fit into that description, but he was one hundred percent serious with his threats.

Stiles had told him it was primarily Gia’s fault that he had been dragged into this universe, but then he had also confessed Gia was not very confident about this spell and it raised suspicion. 

“Oh my God, dad, are you serious?” Stiles had finally materialised from his CoD-induced haze and rejoined the rest of humanity.  


The Sheriff realised he had been still looming over Tyler menacingly who was trying to make himself small, well at least as small as a six-feet tall, incredibly built guy could possibly manage.

“He is living with Derek and spending most of his waking hours with you.” The Sheriff was completely unrepentant. “I need to make sure.”

“I cannot even...” Stiles spluttered. “Look at him. Does he look like a serial killer or a deranged, psychotic druid? Derek here is more likely snap one day under his mountain of guilt and start murdering people in their sleep than him. He is the official creepy lurker of this creepy town and now you are all buddy buddy with him, ganging up against an innocent man! Tyler is completely harmless. Leave him alone.”

Tyler winced repeatedly at the casual cruelty in Stiles’ words and his eyes were drawn to the man in question who just looked his usual stoic self.

“Yet Derek is the one who lets people in and gets hurt in the process.” The Sheriff folded his arms over his chest. “Just like he is doing right now.”

“I will never hurt Derek.” Tyler finally snapped, having had enough of it. “You can arrest me or lock me up if you think I can be dangerous. You are the Sheriff after all.”

The Sheriff looked at him long and hard. “You seriously mean that?”

“No, he doesn’t” Derek barked. “Don’t be stupid.”

Tyler silently offered his wrists to the Sheriff looking dead into his eyes. He was not cowering any more, but looking more defiant and furious than anything else.

The Sheriff was suddenly stuck with déjà vu as he remembered arresting a blank-faced Derek Hale from his home after his sister was murdered. He might have spent a couple of sleepless nights feeling terribly guilty about it. The fact that a boy not much older than his own was falsely charged with the brutal homicide of his own sister and that he couldn’t even find the real culprit for the boy to have some kind of closure haunted him for a long time. After that the said boy’s life consisted of one shit-storm after the other if Stiles’ stories were to be believed.

“I wouldn’t hurt Derek.” Tyler said again, calmly this time. “Or the pack.”

There was something in his tone and his eyes that the Sheriff wanted to believe him.

“Well, in that case,” the Sheriff extended his hand, smiling for the first time after meeting the man. “Welcome to Beacon Hills.”

“Thank you.” Tyler still looked a bit tense, but he shook his hand anyways.

“My son also says that you cook.”

Tyler’s shoulders relaxed. “Derek has bought some nice supplies for the kitchen.” He declared. “Now we have a more or less functioning kitchen.”

He didn’t notice the way Derek’s eyes snapped to him at the word ‘we’.

“So is there any possibility of whipping up some of your famous choco-chip pancakes for a hungry, old cop?”

Tyler smiled, showing his bunny teeth. “I will see what I can manage.”

...

After the Sheriff had herded the two boys out of Derek’s loft, muttering under the breath about pests or pestilences (Tyler was not quite sure) the loft had gone quiet again. Tyler didn’t mind fooling around with the two goofballs, but he relished his time as much as, if not more when he was alone with Derek. The werewolf’s silent demeanor didn’t faze him at all. In fact he found it strangely relaxing. Living with Derek was a bit like living all by himself for the werewolf mostly minded his own business, giving the other person plenty of space. Sometimes he would leave for a few hours without explanation, and once it had been an entire twenty-four hours.

Tyler didn’t usually mind but that one day he got sick with worry and had yelled at Derek for a quarter of an hour once he had turned up next day.

Derek had looked at him with the strange soul-baring way of his and shrugged.

“I am not used to people waiting up for me.”

That had silenced Tyler effectively.

After that he used to find small notes in neat handwriting, stuck on the fridge explaining what Derek was upto and by when he expected to be back.

The messages ranged from ‘gone to the bank’ to ‘running some errands, won’t return until midnight’ and for some reason Tyler took to saving the little notes in his drawer (yes he had a drawer at Derek’s loft now and it had become exactly THAT domestic). Somehow they were precious because it revealed things about Derek, normal things that he did apart from being a vigilante werewolf and it was the first time he had a glimpse of Derek Hale the man.

Call him a sap, but Tyler found the notes immensely endearing.

Back to that day, Derek was standing in front of him, cleaning his wounds and applying ointment and changing bandages as required silently and methodically, starting with the head when Tyler asked him when his birthday was.

“Why?”

“No reason.” Tyler worried his lips between his teeth. “Actually, Stiles was wondering about it. I think he wants to throw you a surprise party.”

“I hate surprise parties.” Derek frowned. “I hate surprises of any kind. I would probably end up gutting the first person jumping at me from a dark corner singing ‘happy birthday’.”

“I know.” Tyler chewed his lip. “That is what I tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Why a party, and that too for me specifically?”

Tyler was guiltily silent.

“Ty!” Derek looked down at him. “Just spill it.”

“I might have said something about how he is being a jackass around you and that instead of going for all these pigtail-pulling he should find other ways to let you know that he likes you.”

“What!” Derek’s hands stilled. He sounded horrified.

“I mean regardless of his feelings he just basically needs to stop unloading his crap on you for I don’t like the look on your face when he does that.” Tyler said. “And I told him as much.”

Derek was silent for a full minute and when he thought Derek was going to let it go at that he suddenly muttered quietly, “you should stop being so nice to me.” 

“What?”

“You tried to sacrifice yourself in my stead. You have been putting up with all our crap without any complain. You got hurt to try to protect me, very foolishly if I may add. You are trying to do nice things and let me tell you are NOT at all subtle about that. You are cooking and you are turning my loft into a home.”  


Derek's voice was rising with every word and his breathing was coming harder. Tyler was worried that Derek was working himself into a panic attack if werewolves could have panic attacks.

“Well...er...”

“Stop being so frigging nice to me!” Derek almost yelled at him.

Tyler frowned. The fact that nobody was ever nice to him without having some ulterior motive was heavily implied. His heart twisted in his chest thinking about that.

“I am just paying you back.”

“For what?”

Tyler rolled his eyes.

“You have let me, a complete stranger in your home. You have been feeding me and lending me your own clothes, let me occupy your bed, had been tending to my wounds, looking after me, taking my pain, listening to my crappy advice.”

Tyler would have gone on, but he was running out of breath.

Derek had stopped in his ministration and was looking down at him with a predictably inscrutable expression.

“Let us make a deal.” Tyler sighed. “I would stop being nice to you if you stop being nice to me.”

For a moment Tyler could almost see Derek considering it. He just needed to pick up the phone and tell Stiles or Scott that Tyler was not his responsibility anymore and they would have happily put him up at either of their place. 

Probably.

“Go on.” He said softly. “Kick me out. Apparently that is something you can do pretty well.”

Derek started and for a second or two he looked so incredibly vulnerable that Tyler wanted nothing but to just wrap him up in a hug and never let go and tell him that it was alright and that there were no monsters under the bed and that he was perfectly safe and that he would make sure Derek was safe.

Then Derek’s features hardened over, all traces of emotions gone.

“Don’t tempt me.” He growled, turning away from him.

“I haven’t asked to be baby-sat by you either.” Tyler could feel his temper rising. “I don’t remember giving you the responsibility to nurse me back to health.”

“Fine.” Derek stomped away, throwing the container of ointment towards him.

“Nothing is fine.” Tyler gritted his teeth, catching the container mid-air. “You are not fine. This situation is not fine. Nothing is fine. But I am trying to cope, as best as I can. What the hell are you doing? Instead of finding out a good therapist you are going all passive aggressive on everybody. No wonder they are fed up with you.”

He ripped off the bandage at his side and in his haste and anger he caused a part of the newly-forming skin to peel off. His eyes watered in the resultant agony.

“Shit!” He gritted his teeth against the pain as he tried to apply the ointment there at an awkward angle.

“Let me.” A shadow fell on him.

Tyler sighed resignedly and handed the container back to Derek.

Derek sank down to his knees on the floor in front of Tyler and splayed his hand on his side, lightly and carefully. Dark veins started appearing below the skin of his hand and Tyler closed his eyes in relief.

But they flew open immediately after.

“Wait,” he grabbed Derek’s wrist, trying to peel it off his body. “This must be hurting you too.”

“It is ok.” Derek didn’t remove his hand until the last trace of pain is gone. Then he wordlessly started to apply the ointment on the exposed flesh.

Tyler regarded him silently for a few moments. Their eyes were almost on the same level, but Derek wouldn't look at him. 

“I am sorry.” Tyler said earnestly. “I was being unnecessarily mean.”

“It is ok.” Derek repeated, tonelessly, still not looking at him.

“It is NOT ok.” Tyler protested. “It is not ok when Stiles behaves like a jerk or Scott behaves like he expects the worst from you and appears surprised when you don’t. It will never be ok.”

Derek just shrugged, like what could you do that people assumed things about you and those things were never any good, like he was too used to it to notice.

But Tyler was not convinced.

“Next time if I say something mean to you, I give you my permission to lash out and break a bone or two.”

Derek gave him a look.

“Ok, maybe a punch in the face will do.” Tyler hedged.

Derek continued staring.

“Ok, maybe just cuff me on the head,” he conceded. 

“Do you go about inviting people punch you or break your bones?” Sarcastic eye-brow raise.

“Nah, it is only you.” Tyler smirked. “You should consider yourself special.”

“I weep from joy.” Derek deadpanned, finishing his handiwork. “So Chinese again?”

“Hell, yeah.” Tyler beamed at him.

...

The phone call came when they were in the middle of dinner.

Tyler could see Derek’s shoulder tensing up though he had his back towards him. He stood up, slowly, fearing the worst.

Derek hadn’t spoken at all after the first ‘hello’ and he turned to face Tyler after disconnecting the phone.

Tyler for his life didn’t know what to make of Derek's expression.

“Is it rogue werewolves? Hunters? Kanimas? Vampires? What? What is it?” Tyler ranted.

He only stopped when Derek raised an eyebrow at him, realising he was not even letting the man speak.

“Something less gory, I would say." Derek flashed that special tiny smile that started at the corner of his lips and died as soon as it touched his eyes, like an ember. 

"It seems you are going back home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like my fic, drop by at my website at   
> [www.theauthorkamalika.org](https://www.theauthorkamalika.org/)


	4. Epilogue

Derek looked down at the scorpion trying to climb up his shoes and then decided to ignore it in favour of taking out the envelope from his jacket pocket. Stiles had handed it to him a week ago, but had warned that it was meant to be opened on twenty fifth December.

 

No he did not go back to Beacon Hills for the Christmas. He was there to meet Noshiko Yukimura and to learn about the skinwalkers. He was hunting one along with Chris at Boston and he needed to meet the legendary supernatural creatures inhabiting the deserts of New Mexico so that they could learn how to trap the rogue skinwalker and bring it back to its original home.

 

Skinwalkers were dangerous creatures and highly unpredictable too. He had made Chris sit this one out after quite a few heated arguments. And so here he was, camping out near Shiprock, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive beings and reading a letter.

 

...

 

Hey Derek,

 

I hope you are still alive. Well that is a terrible line to begin with, but then knowing you, I have my doubts. (Please don’t be dead. No, I am serious. Death is off the table.)

 

Yes, I am writing a letter to you for your birthday and keeping it with Stiles. Stop rolling your eyes.  I know it is incredibly cheesy. So Stiles has finally managed to unearth your date of birth. It appears you are a Christmas baby (Stiles is still sticking to the plan of the surprise birthday party and consider yourself warned. So please don’t gut anyone.)

 

I would have handed it to you myself except for you kind of disappeared on me, immediately after telling me how Gia had found out the reverse spell to send me back to my world from a friendly coven. You didn’t even leave a note this time.

 

Even though you did tell me that you remembered something and needed to take care of it (at eleven o’ clock at night!) it was not a very convincing lie. I still wonder if you just ran through the preserve whole night or if you have a friend at Beacon Hills where you stayed over. I hope the latter was true because it is kind of depressing to think of the other possibility.

 

In fact I just realised that would be the last time I ever see you (if you don’t turn up here, making a dramatic entrance right before I vanish into thin air). I remembered the way you smiled when you delivered the news to me. Normally I would have loved to see you smile more, but that day your smile didn’t quite count.

 

Anyways the loft was really depressing without you and I have been staying over at Scott’s for the last two days. But right now I am at the loft again. Gia is prepping up the room, for performing the reverse spell.

 

The entire pack is there, including Sheriff Stilinski and Melissa and Chris Argent. All of them took turns to hug me. Scott and Stiles squeezed the stuffing out of me as you can easily predict and wouldn’t let go until the Sheriff and Chris pulled them away from me. Melissa have been momming me around so much for the last two days, that I am ashamed to say that I might have teared up a bit when she hugged me. You see I was always a mama’s boy and I didn’t realise how much I missed her before Melissa went full mother-hen on me.

 

~~I wish you were here, but at the same time I don’t want you to be here.~~

 

I will lie if I say I am not scared. I mean what if instead of reaching my reality or universe or dimension, I just disintegrate. I didn’t feel anything when I arrived here. I had gone to sleep to my own bed at my studio apartment and the next thing I knew I woke up in a completely realistic set of ‘Teen Wolf’. I hope this time too it goes smoothly. When Stiles and others tried to explain everything to me I kept on thinking that maybe I was still dreaming and any minute now I would wake up from this nightmare.

 

So I should be happy that this is over and that I am going back home, to my family whom I adore, to the job that I love, to my friends, to my own everything. I should be happy that I am going back to my universe where there is no danger lurking in the shadows and the abandoned warehouses (well, I am really not very sure about the warehouses), where supernatural doesn’t exist, but everything is just regular and mundane.

 

I should be happy except for that I remember the way you smiled...like you wanted to cry.

 

And you didn’t, you would never and I admire you for that. You are brave and stoic and I just wish I could be at least a fraction of as strong as you.

 

So forgive me if ....................(the words are blurry and unintelligible here).........................allow that to happen.

 

I am so sorry, though I don’t even know what I am sorry for; to appear in your world and disrupting your life or to disappear without a trace. I know how much you have lost. I don’t want to be the reason to heap on more misery upon you.

 

I wish so many good things for you that it would take me hundreds of pages to write. Gia is calling me. I think it is time. So I will only say this much that ~~I lo~~  I wish the very best for you because you deserve the best of everything. This is not my penchant for being cheesy talking. I really believe in you. The sheriff believes in you. Chris and Melissa believe in you. Scott and Stiles believe in you in their own way.

 

Please believe in yourself.

 

Please believe you are worth saving, worth loving, worth cherishing and that we make mistakes and those make us human but few of us make penances the way you did.

 

If you were not any of those I wouldn’t have wanted to just hide you somewhere safe, away from all the hurt and the pain and the terrible memories and the guilt...just somewhere safe.

 

If you were not any of those, I wouldn’t have bothered to write you this letter when I know I may die within the next hour and this is probably the last thing I would do.

 

I really didn’t want the letter to be this sombre, but it turned out all doom and gloom.

 

Sorry for that and take care of your kids (yes, yours, deal with it). Redecorate the loft, maybe starting with a paint-job. I would suggest burnt orange, but cerulean will also do.

 

Go on a vacation (I never had the time to ask you what your dream vacation destination would be and now I will never know).

 

Live.

 

For yourself.

 

Tyler.

 

P.S.: I got mobbed at Tennessee where I was visiting a relative’s farmhouse when I was seventeen. Without going into much details, let’s just say it was pretty bad.

 

...

 

Derek folded the letter and inserted it carefully into his jacket pocket. He needed to make an important phone call as soon as he got out of here.

 

...

 

Nobody could accuse Tyler of being a tidy person. So it was only natural that without his Spanish housekeeper he was completely lost. She had taken a week off and it was an uphill task to go through each day without some kind of disaster or the other.

 

For example today, Tyler had misplaced the bloody script (this was why he preferred soft copies) that was handed to him by his agent and he would be meeting with the producers today.

 

He cursed under his breath for the umpteenth time and proceeded to rummage through the drawers of his wall to wall cupboard again.

 

He almost missed it and was about to close the drawer not finding what he was looking for when he suddenly froze. There was an unfamiliar wooden box with a very familiar carving on it nestled amidst his track pants.

 

People interpret the three connecting whorls different ways: the Holy Trinity or the alpha, beta and omega and even the trio of the sun, the moon and the truth.

 

Tyler’s hands shook as he picked it up, all thoughts of his upcoming meeting receding to the background.

 

He opened the box to find the post-it notes that he used to hoard in his drawer at Derek’s loft, dated and neatly organised chronologically.

 

He picked up the notes and skimmed through them: grocery shopping, bank, out of town, Sheriff’s station...he could still remember each of these notes and each single day spent at Derek’s loft like it was only yesterday.

 

He reached the final note and noticed the date. It was the day they had received the phone call from Gia.

 

He frowned for Derek didn’t leave any note that day.

 

There must be something in his eyes that was making the words blurry. He wiped at them and squinted at the single word that the note contained.

 

‘Sorry.’

 

He flipped it over and was puzzled to see today’s date.

 

It was a letter. His vision was getting blurry again...

 

Hey,

 

Still alive. Gia said she would be able to send an inanimate object to you, but that it is kind of a one-time deal.  So this was the only thing that I thought of sending.

 

You are crying now, aren't you? Please don’t. I would have said I am not worth anybody’s tears, but you would probably want to punch me in the face.

 

Continue to make overly dramatic and cheesy gestures. (I promise to keep eye-rolling to the minimum).

 

Smile. Always. 

 

 

Derek.

 

P.S. It would be Santorini. Booking flight tickets today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like my fic, drop by at my website at   
> [www.theauthorkamalika.org](https://www.theauthorkamalika.org/)


End file.
